Fas ten e r



(No Model.)

W. J. WERNTZ.

GARMENT FASTENBR.

114:. nor-nus PETERS cu. puorouma. WASHINGTON n c UNrT-ED Tar-Es WALTER J. XVERNTZ, OF ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE C. SUNDERLAND,OF- SAME PLACE.

GARMENT-FA'STEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 601,328, dated March 29, 1898.

Application filed June 18, 1897. Serial No. 641,216. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WALTER J. WERNTZ, of Annapolis, in the county of Anne Arundel and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment- Fasteners; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in garment-fasteners designed for use in any connection where such devices can be employed, but particularly for use as a placketcloser and skirt-supporter.

The primary object of the invention is the production of a garment-fastener which by reason of certain peculiarities of construction may be employed at the waistband of a skirt without bulging the same and without the disagreeable accompaniment of projecting parts, which will be calculated to disarrange the apparel. Subordinate to this general object is the production of a simple fastener which can be readily secured and which when so adjusted will be securely retained against casual displacement.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and otherobjects my invention comprises a pair of fastening or clasp members with looking or retaining mechanism and in further providing one or both of the clasp members with a hook, loop, or similar device designed to engage a hook of any suitable construction carried by the waist or other garment, and obviously where my fastener is employed as a placket-closer a pair of depending arms or rods may be employed for retaining the edges of the placket in close contact along their entire lengths.

Referring to the drawings,Figure 1 is a general view showing the application of my device when applied as a placket-closer and skirt-supporter.- Fig. 2is a detail View showing the clasp members separated. Fig. 3 is a detail View of the clasp, showing the members employed in connection with strips or V stays designed to extend along the opposite edges of the placket. Fig. 1 is a modification showing the locking apertures or depressions arranged in angular relation to the central longitudinal line of the plates. Fig. 5 is a View showing the hook member.

Referring to the numerals on the drawings, 1 2 indicate the clasp members, which are preferably stamped from thin sheet metal, tempered or not as desired, and provided with apertures through which threads may be passed for securing the clasp t the waistband 3 of a skirt or other garment.

4 and 5 indicate what I will term spring locking-plates, which are depressed from the plane of the body parts of the members and have their opposite ends separated from said body parts in any suitable manneras, for instance, the substantially semicircular cuts illustrated.

7 and 8 indicate apertures located in the locking-plates at theirdepressed ends, and 9 and 10 indicate projections stamped. from or secured to the spring ends of the lockingplates and designed when the parts are in the positions indicated in Fig. 2 to engage, respectively, the aperture in the plate carried by the opposing member, the depressions of the opposite ends of the locking-plates serving to permit the spring ends of said plates to lie flush with the body parts of the members and thus prevent any part of the device from assuming a position calculated to catch the articles of apparel and cause their disarrangement. 11 indicates a loop preferably stamped from the metal composing one of the members and designed to engage a hook 12,

sprung slightly from a Hat shank or plate 13, provided with apertures 14 and designed to be sewed or otherwise secured upon the waist or bodice.

In order to increase the effectiveness of the clasp when employed as a placket-closer, I prefer to provide the depending strips 15, which are secured at their upper extremities to the clasp members adjacent to the lockingplates and in such relation that when the clasp is in the clasped position theedges of the placket will overlap and will be retained securely against displacement, thus serving to avoid the annoying derangement of the dress. 7

Any suitable means for connecting the strips 15- as, for instance, a hinge-joint attheir lower extremities-and any suitable shown-as, for instance, in the. modification illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings, where the apertures and projections are arranged diagonally.

What I claim is 1. A combined placket-fastener and skirtsupporter,comprising two StiEener's-pivoted together at one of their ends, and provided; at their opposite ends with integral fasteningplates, one of said plates having a depressed portion struck out from the main portion, and 5 provided with a recess and projection which engages with corresponding projection and recess on the other member, one of said members also provided with an eye for the reception of a hook member attached to the waist, substantially asshown and described '2. A combined placket-fastener and skirtsupporter comprising two plates-provided With integral fasteners, one of said fasteners comprising a stud and recess adapted to register with a recess and stud in the companion member, one of said members also provided with an eye for the reception ofa hook, which is secured to the waist, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof-I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. r p r p ,7

. WALTER J. WERNTZ.

Witnesses:

LoUIs G. J ULIHU,

EDWD. B. FOX. 

